Analyzing Dynamic Scenes Containing Multiple Moving Objects

This chapter provides an insight into the problems encountered in image sequence analysis when the viewed scene contains several objects all of which may be moving. A major emphasis is on the interaction of object images resulting from viewpoint placement and object movement. The interaction that concerns us here is the occlusion of some part of an object by other objects or even by other parts of the same object. Our discussion begins with the problems of interpreting single images containing occluded objects and then turns to the implications of occlusion on image sequence analysis. Further problems encountered in image sequence analysis will then be emphasized through the description of those problems as they have arisen in specific systems. Foremost among these problems is the identification, throughout the image sequence, of objects in spite of their continually changing appearance. Also important are the computational implications for attempting to process the flux of information presented by an image sequence.